Footage Firm is giving away 10 of their looping worship backgrounds. They are great quality loops. You can download them in both standard and high definition. Get the downloads here.

If you have not put your name in the hat for the Integrity Shout Praises Promises DVD pack, do it soon! Winners will be announced Thursday!

Also, coming this week…a new series called Fire ‘Em Up. This will be a series of devotionals from Scripture that you can use with your volunteers and staff. I have six of them lined up, but we’ll see where the Spirit takes them!

Admit it. You have a volunteer or two in your ministry who is just not working out. You are thinking you may need to fire this volunteer. Perhaps their personality does not match the ministry. Perhaps they have some spiritual issues to work on. Perhaps they smell. Or perhaps they have issues with authority. Regardless, if someone is not a good fit, you are only bringing your ministry down by letting them stay involved.

Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, talks about getting the right people on the bus. You have to get the right people in the right positions in your ministry. The right people will help you further your vision, the wrong people will stifle it. Roger Fields really challenged me a few months ago when he told me that if I really believed in what I was doing, if I really believed that it meant something, then I would take steps to remove those who got in the way of the ministry. Unfortunately, I’ve had to fire a few volunteers (and paid staff in my secular work) and wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way.

Before you even think about firing someone, you need to ask yourself these questions. If you can’t answer them with the volunteer’s best interests in mind, then you need to take some steps to give the volunteer a fair shake.

• Did the volunteer have adequate guidance to do their position (i.e. job description, proper training, right supplies)?
• Did you pray over this person for several weeks to a month first?
• Did you extend grace first, overlooking smaller offenses?
• Did you approach this person with necessary feedback when they did something out of line?
• How did this person respond to your feedback?

Finally, if after adequately answering the questions above, you feel that firing is the best thing for everyone, think through these tips before handing them the pink slip:

1. Arrange your thoughts–Make sure you plan out what you are going to say and provide appropriate examples which guided your decision. Discuss this with other leaders who can help you shape how you need to say things.
2. Get some support–Be sure your supervisor knows and supports exactly what you are doing.
3. Be positive–I often overlook this one. Everyone has something you can praise. However, don’t go overboard. Don’t give them mixed signals. Praise them for something, but explain that the areas they are failing in are too damaging to the vision of the ministry.
4. Set up a quick meeting–Don’t give them a week to try to figure out what you are meeting about. I have found it best to try to set up a time within 3-5 hours of first calling them to let them know you need to meet. A long amount of time between communicating about the meeting and actually having the meeting can breed much gossip and dissension. However, don’t just pull them aside in the hallway on a Sunday morning. Be thoughtful about when to meet.
5. Have someone with you–Be sure you have a witness who can document what you say. Another staff member is appropriate or an unbiased friend of the volunteer who can back you up.
6. Be steadfast–Don’t take the attitude that this is a discussion. Allow questions and feedback, but if you go into a meeting like this, then your mind should already be made up.
7. Establish clear goals–Give them a few articles that may help them. Point them to some proven books. Give them 3-4 clear and measurable objectives to work on and let them know you are here to help them on their journey.
8. Be even keeled–Many volunteers are going to get mad. If they are doing poorly enough to get fired, they are most likely not going to expect to get fired. They may yell, they may bring it back on your faults, they may shoot a smoke screen. Regardless, do not let them get to you and keep the attitude of Christ.
9. Set a time line–Put the ball in their court to come back to you in a period of time to get their job back. Let them know you will be praying for them and will have an open door to them during this time. One year is a generally good time for someone to step back and allow the Lord to change them. Major spiritual or leadership growth does not just happen in a matter of weeks. Some volunteers, however, may not be fit for the ministry and if so, you may not want to give these folks a time line. That’s up to your discretion.
10. Write a report–Do not wait too long on this one. Write up what was said in a straight forward fashion and submit this documentation to your supervisor. Be unbiased and unemotional. Just report the facts.
11. Follow up–If you really care, you’ll touch base with this person to find out how the Lord is working in their life. A simple letter or hallway conversation every couple of months will suffice.

How about you? What would you add to the process?

I want to commend a free PDF book by Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church. You may not agree with everything that Mark teaches, though I think he is practically and boldly biblical, this book will be a great tool in your hands as you disciple fathers in your ministry. Print it out and make them available to dads. Mail a copy to a dad who you know could use it. It’s a short little read, but very thought provoking. I read it last week and have a new sense of direction as a father now!

Do you have parents who wait until 3 days before VBS starts to register? Or perhaps like my church, they wait until the opening assembly has already started!

I sent out an email to our entire church body to grab their attention and get them to register. Feel free to adapt it and use it in an email, Facebook page, blog, tweet them individually, or whatever. Hope it helps.

Top ten reasons you haven’t registered your child for VBS:

10. The dog ate your computer.

9. You thought it stood for Vulcan Bake Sale.

8. You’re lazy.

7. You aren’t concerned about your child hearing the gospel.

6. The spirit of “weirdness” told you not to.

5. You’re still waiting to see the dinner menu.

4. Your overly American schedule has kept you too busy to think about it.

3. You know that it takes around 7 reminders for people to respond to something and you’ve only counted 6.

2. One word: YouTube

1. People say your kid would have too much fun—and fun is not what you’re about.

Are you doing a camp or summer weeknight ministry? I’ve found two sites full of games and ideas that may be useful to you:

1. Ultimate Camp Resource
2. My Camp Resources

Have fun!

I love VBS (that’s Vacation Bible School for the scarf with t-shirt wearing crowd of Children’s Ministers!). I love it because when it is done well and creatively, children learn foundational truths about Jesus, kids get saved, parents get plugged into church, and momentum is built to further the overall vision and work of one’s children’s ministry. My VBS is in 2 weeks and I’m extremely excited for what God has in store this year! Below are some creative ideas you can incorporate into your VBS to make it the best one ever!

Fun for Kids

• Mascot Hunt: Figure out a good mascot for your VBS and try to find a stuffed animal that looks like it. Hide the animal each day and challenge the kids to find it as they are walking around. If they find it, reward their class with a bag of candy and a special flag they can carry around the next day. This is so popular at my church, I have to do two, one for Pre-K and one for elementary.
• Surprise Character: Have someone dress up as a character who matches the theme. Have them bust into the classrooms during teaching time, interrupting the teacher and getting the whole lesson for the day wrong. Alert the teachers ahead of time so they can interact with the character and “set them straight” on the meaning of the lesson.
• Incentives: Offer an incentive for non-church kids to attend or for your own church kids to invite their friends. Last year, I gave away a Wii. It was our largest VBS in church history. This year, I’m giving a $5 gift card to Toys R Us to any non-church kid who attends at least 4 nights of VBS. I’m already WAY above the average mark for this point in our registration process and many of them are guests.
• Involve Kids in Follow Up: Have children in your ministry take the contact info for a guest that was in their class. Instruct them on how to follow up via a phone call or note in the mail. Have them to invite the kids back to church the next week and start a friendship with them.

Fun for Parents

• Send them home in style: If you have a car pick up line (which I recommend to reduce the amount of people who come into your building), then I recommend that you greet parents with a smile, open the door for kids, help them get their seat belt on, and say something positive about the kids. This can really have a huge impact on the ride home.
• Parenting Skills: Offer a parenting skills class during your VBS time. Have some snacks, foster community, and/or bring in a well known presenter to help them grow as a parent (Frankly, I’d love to do it!). You may start this off one year by just doing a one or two night thing. That way you could advertise it well during drop off and pick up prior to it occurring.

Fun for Volunteers

• Late Week Break: Have a variety of drinks and special snacks available on day 3 or 4 of your week for volunteers. Stand by the cooler and personally thank each one who gets a drink.
• Perpetuate the Memories: Set up a Facebook page or blog where VBS leaders can share memorable experiences after VBS is over. Use these quotes in recruitment the next year.
• Make Them Feel Good: Be sure to recognize them in a creative way if you do some sort of kick off or celebration night. Have them run out through a kid “tunnel.” Do a creative video highlighting the lead teachers. Pick a “Leader of the Day” to recognize outstanding work.

What creative idea do you have for VBS?